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John Mason (1766–1849)
Encyclopedia
John Mason was an early American merchant
, banker, planter. As a son of George Mason
, a Founding Father of the United States
, Mason was a scion
of the prominent Mason political family
.
plantation
, the estate of his maternal grandparents William Eilbeck and Sarah Edgar Eilbeck. He was eighth child and fifth-eldest son of George Mason IV
and his wife Ann Eilbeck. Like his brothers, Mason was tutored at his father's estate, Gunston Hall
, in Fairfax County
, Virginia. His tutors were Scotsmen
Mr. Davidson and Mr. Constable. After the American Revolutionary War
, Mason, his brother Thomas, and a cousin, studied with Reverend Buchnan, rector
of Aquia
and Pohick
churches, who resided on Passapatanzy Creek
.
Mason completed his formal education in mathematics
with another Scotsman, Mr. Hunter, in Calvert County
, Maryland. He was then apprenticed to a Quaker merchant William Hartshorne of the firm of Harper & Hartshorne in Alexandria
, Virginia. Mason accompanied his father George Mason to the Philadelphia Convention
, but returned to continue his apprenticeship with Hartshorne before the Convention ended. Mason remained with Hartshorne until Spring 1788 when he then entered into a partnership with merchants James and Joseph Fenwick of Maryland.
, France to conduct business for Fenwick & Mason firm there. Despite the onset of the French Revolution
, Mason remained in France until 1791 and only then left due to his ill health. The Bordeaux branch of Fenwick & Mason continued to thrive, but was liquidated in 1793 because of the encroaching threat of war in Europe. Declining prices of tobacco
were also partly to blame for the firm's Bordeaux closure.
By Spring 1792, Mason had established a branch of Fenwick & Mason in Georgetown
. As the firm expanded, it became involved in a variety of other lucrative ventures including bankinging, international commerce
, the organization of foundries
, and navigation
and turnpike
companies. Fenwick & Mason also became involved in the flour
and wheat
trade in addition to its tobacco
operations.
Mason also served on the board of directors
of the Bank of Columbia and became its president in 1798. Around this same time, Mason purchased large tracts of land in the Federal City
. His involvement with government service was enhanced through his 1807 appointment as Superintendent of the Indian Trade. Mason held this position until 1816. Mason also served as a brigadier general
in the District of Columbia militia
. He was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson
to be the first Commander of the District of Columbia militia in 1802. Through this role, Mason became commissioner general of prisoners during the War of 1812
. In 1817, he became the president of the Potomac Company
. His nephew Thomson Francis Mason
was later chairman of the Alexandria Canal further downstream.
Mason acquired Henry Foxall's Foxhall Cannon Foundry in Georgetown in 1815. Mason continued to operate the foundry
until his death in 1849. For five years after Mason's death, the foundry remained part of the Mason estate with Mason's son Maynadier Mason as its superintendent.
, Maryland on 10 February 1796. The couple had ten children:
Following Mason's marriage to Anna Maria Murray in 1796, he settled in Georgetown on property located at the corner of present-day 25th and L Streets and Pennsylvania Avenue
, Northwest. Mason also built a summer residence on Analostan Island (now Theodore Roosevelt Island
) on the Potomac River
, which became the scene of many elegant social activities in the District of Columbia. Analostan Island had been acquired by George Mason
in 1724. Mason inherited the Island from his father upon his death in 1792 and owned it until 1833. The island was famous for its gardens, which were designed and installed by English gardener David Hepburn. Mason continued the operation of the ferry
which crossed the Potomac River from Georgetown to the Virginia. After suffering a series of financial setbacks, Mason was forced to give up Analostan Island, and in 1833, the family moved to Clermont
in the Cameron Run
valley in Fairfax County, Virginia. Mason and his family had already vacated the island in 1831 when a causeway
stagnated
the water in the Potomac River.
Cemetery in Alexandria
, Virginia.
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
, banker, planter. As a son of George Mason
George Mason
George Mason IV was an American Patriot, statesman and a delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention...
, a Founding Father of the United States
Founding Fathers of the United States
The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, establishing the United States Constitution, or by some...
, Mason was a scion
Kinship
Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....
of the prominent Mason political family
Mason family
The Mason family of Virginia is a historically significant American political family whose prominent members are known for their accomplishments in politics, business, and the military. The progenitor of the Mason family, George Mason I , arrived at Norfolk, Virginia on the ship Assurance in 1652...
.
Early life and education
Mason was born on 4 April 1766 at MattawomanMattawoman (plantation)
Mattawoman was an 18th-century plantation on Mattawoman Creek in Charles County, Maryland, United States.- History :Mattawoman was the country estate of Colonel William Eilbeck, a wealthy planter and merchant, and his wife Sarah Edgar. On 4 April 1750, Colonel Eilbeck's only child, 16-year-old Ann,...
plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
, the estate of his maternal grandparents William Eilbeck and Sarah Edgar Eilbeck. He was eighth child and fifth-eldest son of George Mason IV
George Mason
George Mason IV was an American Patriot, statesman and a delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention...
and his wife Ann Eilbeck. Like his brothers, Mason was tutored at his father's estate, Gunston Hall
Gunston Hall
Gunston Hall is an 18th-century Georgian mansion near the Potomac River in Mason Neck, Virginia, United States of America. The house was the home of the United States Founding Father George Mason. It was located at the center of a 5500 acre plantation...
, in Fairfax County
Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...
, Virginia. His tutors were Scotsmen
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
Mr. Davidson and Mr. Constable. After the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
, Mason, his brother Thomas, and a cousin, studied with Reverend Buchnan, rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of Aquia
Aquia Church
Aquia Church , in Stafford, Virginia, USA, is an Episcopal church that has been designated a National Historic Landmark since 1991. It maintains an active congregation with a variety of programs and outreach to the community....
and Pohick
Pohick Church
Pohick Church is an Episcopal church in the community of Pohick near Lorton in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States.-History:Originally founded around 1695 as Occoquan Church, in the Anglican Truro Parish of Virginia, it was later renamed Pohick Church in 1732 after relocating near Pohick Creek,...
churches, who resided on Passapatanzy Creek
Passapatanzy Creek
Passapatanzy Creek is a tidal tributary of the Potomac River in King George County, Virginia, United States.-Nomenclature:The United States Board on Geographic Names officially decided upon the creek's name in 1940. Before the official naming decision, Passapatanzy Creek was also alternatively...
.
Mason completed his formal education in mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
with another Scotsman, Mr. Hunter, in Calvert County
Calvert County, Maryland
Calvert County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. It occupies the Calvert Peninsula which is bordered on the east by the Chesapeake Bay and on the west by the Patuxent River. Calvert County is part of the Southern Maryland region. Calvert County's residents are among the highest...
, Maryland. He was then apprenticed to a Quaker merchant William Hartshorne of the firm of Harper & Hartshorne in Alexandria
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
, Virginia. Mason accompanied his father George Mason to the Philadelphia Convention
Philadelphia Convention
The Constitutional Convention took place from May 14 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from...
, but returned to continue his apprenticeship with Hartshorne before the Convention ended. Mason remained with Hartshorne until Spring 1788 when he then entered into a partnership with merchants James and Joseph Fenwick of Maryland.
Merchant and banking career
On 22 June 1788, Mason travelled to BordeauxBordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, France to conduct business for Fenwick & Mason firm there. Despite the onset of the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, Mason remained in France until 1791 and only then left due to his ill health. The Bordeaux branch of Fenwick & Mason continued to thrive, but was liquidated in 1793 because of the encroaching threat of war in Europe. Declining prices of tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
were also partly to blame for the firm's Bordeaux closure.
By Spring 1792, Mason had established a branch of Fenwick & Mason in Georgetown
Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
Georgetown is a neighborhood located in northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751, the port of Georgetown predated the establishment of the federal district and the City of Washington by 40 years...
. As the firm expanded, it became involved in a variety of other lucrative ventures including bankinging, international commerce
Commerce
While business refers to the value-creating activities of an organization for profit, commerce means the whole system of an economy that constitutes an environment for business. The system includes legal, economic, political, social, cultural, and technological systems that are in operation in any...
, the organization of foundries
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
, and navigation
Navigation
Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...
and turnpike
Toll road
A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...
companies. Fenwick & Mason also became involved in the flour
Flour
Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
and wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
trade in addition to its tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
operations.
Mason also served on the board of directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of the Bank of Columbia and became its president in 1798. Around this same time, Mason purchased large tracts of land in the Federal City
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. His involvement with government service was enhanced through his 1807 appointment as Superintendent of the Indian Trade. Mason held this position until 1816. Mason also served as a brigadier general
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
in the District of Columbia militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
. He was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
to be the first Commander of the District of Columbia militia in 1802. Through this role, Mason became commissioner general of prisoners during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. In 1817, he became the president of the Potomac Company
Potomac Company
The Potomac Company was created in 1785 to make improvements to the Potomac River in order to improve its navigability. The Potomac Company built five skirting canals around the major falls...
. His nephew Thomson Francis Mason
Thomson Francis Mason
Thomson Francis Mason was a prominent jurist, lawyer, councilman, judge, and the mayor of Alexandria, District of Columbia between 1827 and 1830.-Early life and education:...
was later chairman of the Alexandria Canal further downstream.
Mason acquired Henry Foxall's Foxhall Cannon Foundry in Georgetown in 1815. Mason continued to operate the foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
until his death in 1849. For five years after Mason's death, the foundry remained part of the Mason estate with Mason's son Maynadier Mason as its superintendent.
Marriage and children
Mason married Anna Maria Murray, daughter of James Murray and his wife Sarah Ennalls Maynadier, in AnnapolisAnnapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
, Maryland on 10 February 1796. The couple had ten children:
- John T. Mason, Jr. (18 February 1797–11 August 1859)
- James Murray Mason (3 November 1798–28 April 1871)
- Sarah Maria Mason Cooper (11 September 1800–29 July 1890)
- Virginia Mason (12 October 1802–21 January 1838)
- Catherine Eilbeck Mason Jamison (12 July 1804–7 March 1888)
- Eilbeck Mason (20 May 1806–28 June 1862)
- Murray MasonMurray MasonMurray Mason was an American military officer. Mason was a grandson of George Mason, author of the Virginia Bill of Rights and Founding Father of the United States.-Early life:...
(4 January 1808–11 January 1875) - Maynadier Mason (4 January 1808 – April 1865)
- Anna Maria Mason Lee (26 February 1811–3 November 1898)
- Joel Barlow Mason (9 June 1813–1861)
Residences
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a street in Washington, D.C. that joins the White House and the United States Capitol. Called "America's Main Street", it is the location of official parades and processions, as well as protest marches...
, Northwest. Mason also built a summer residence on Analostan Island (now Theodore Roosevelt Island
Theodore Roosevelt Island
Theodore Roosevelt Island is a island and a national memorial located in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. The island was given to the American people by the Theodore Roosevelt Association in memory of the 26th U.S. president, Theodore Roosevelt....
) on the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
, which became the scene of many elegant social activities in the District of Columbia. Analostan Island had been acquired by George Mason
George Mason
George Mason IV was an American Patriot, statesman and a delegate from Virginia to the U.S. Constitutional Convention...
in 1724. Mason inherited the Island from his father upon his death in 1792 and owned it until 1833. The island was famous for its gardens, which were designed and installed by English gardener David Hepburn. Mason continued the operation of the ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
which crossed the Potomac River from Georgetown to the Virginia. After suffering a series of financial setbacks, Mason was forced to give up Analostan Island, and in 1833, the family moved to Clermont
Clermont (Alexandria, Virginia)
Clermont was an 18th-century plantation in Fairfax County Clermont was an 18th-century plantation in Fairfax County Clermont was an 18th-century plantation in Fairfax County (now Alexandria, Virginia, United States. Clermont is best known as the home of John Mason (4 April 1766–19 March...
in the Cameron Run
Cameron Run
Cameron Run is a tributary stream of the Potomac River, located in the U.S. state of Virginia. A third-order stream, it is formed by the confluence of Backlick Run and Holmes Run. It flows eastward from Alexandria and forms the border between Fairfax County and Alexandria before opening into...
valley in Fairfax County, Virginia. Mason and his family had already vacated the island in 1831 when a causeway
Causeway
In modern usage, a causeway is a road or railway elevated, usually across a broad body of water or wetland.- Etymology :When first used, the word appeared in a form such as “causey way” making clear its derivation from the earlier form “causey”. This word seems to have come from the same source by...
stagnated
Water stagnation
Water stagnation occurs when water stops flowing. Stagnant water can be a major environmental hazard.-Dangers:Malaria and dengue are among the main dangers of stagnant water, which can become a breeding ground for the mosquitoes that transmit these diseases.Stagnant or Stailment water can be...
the water in the Potomac River.
Later life
Mason died on 19 March 1849 at age 82. His body was interred after 19 March 1849 at Christ ChurchChrist Church (Alexandria, Virginia)
Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia, is an Episcopal church built from 1767 to 1773 by John Carlyle.The church was designed by James Wren in the colonial style, and frequented by such notables as George Washington, Robert E. Lee, and Philip Richard Fendall I...
Cemetery in Alexandria
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
, Virginia.